CONWAY, Wash. — Emergency crews are working to clean up a gasoline spill along the Olympic Pipeline near Conway that happened Sunday.
BP, which operates the pipeline, reported that gas was released at about 6:30 a.m after a failure in a 3/8th inch piece of tubing in a vault. A spokesperson for the company said in a news conference Monday that around 30,000 gallons were released, with 5,000 remaining in the vault and the rest releasing into the environment. The pipeline was shut down and booms were put in place to prevent movement and capture the product.
A spokesperson for the Department of Ecology said a vault connected to the pipeline spilled gas into Hill Ditch and Bulson Creek. Department of Ecology researchers said gasoline vapor concentrations remain within safe limits. Gas fumes were noticeable to neighbors, but officials said they believe there are no public health concerns.
Highway 534 now has one lane open between Cedardale Road to Bulson Road, a distance of approximately one mile. Eastbound and westbound traffic will alternate using the single through lane. Drivers are asked to stay alert, reduce their speed, follow flagger directions and give crews room.
Conway School District superintendent Jeff Cravy said the gas leak was near a new salmon habitat. Cravy said Conway School will be closed Monday as a result of the spill.
"What we learned was that there was the gas leak next to where they just completed the new salmon habitat," Cravy said.
That brand-new salmon habitat was recently built for fish to travel through. But Madeline Fritzen, a lead spill responder for the Department of Ecology's Bellingham office, said this gas leak was not in any way related to that construction.
Workers set up booms in the creeks to prevent the pollution from spreading, and to protect any fish or wildlife.
Cravy, who has a background as an EMT, said he knows the importance of giving first responders their space during an urgent incident.
"Realizing how big the operations was, it just made sense that there was no way we were going to have school tomorrow," Cravy said.
Students of the Conway School range in age from preschool to eighth grade.
"Usually I call them weather days. But now maybe I just need to call them 'Closure Days,'" Cravy said. "I told parents we would let them know as soon as we could tomorrow, what the rest of the week was going to look like... The cleanup, it's not going to be over in, you know, a day or two."
The Department of Ecology's Amanda Howe, a lead spill responder, told KING 5 that people should avoid going for a swim in these creeks, and avoid allowing their dog to go in.
As for what kind of impacts this may have had on salmon or other forms of wildlife, that's a question we're still working adamantly to get answered.
Cravy said the Skagit County Emergency Operations Center has set up a temporary command center at the elementary school so they can coordinate with the different agencies. The pipeline company is on-site working on the issue.
Officials said if members of the public see an animal in distress in the area, they are encouraged to call the Oiled Wildlife Hotline Number: 1-800-22-BIRDS.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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